doolan



H. J. DOOLAN.

AUTOMATIC TRAIN STOP.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-19,1918.

1,3 1 1 ,761 Patented July 29; 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

THE coLuMmA I'LANOGIIM'II C0,, Wmumnnw. n. c.

H. J. DOOLAN.

AUTOMATIC TRAIN STOP.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. I9. 1918.

1 ,8 1 1 ,761. Patented July 29, 1919.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2- (A I II III HENRY'JT. noonAN; OF'WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF ootUMBm.

AUTOMATIC TRAIN-STOP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented'Jlily 29, 1919.

Applicationzfiled October 19, 1918: SeriaLNo. 258;824'.

Toall wkomz't may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY J. DooLAN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at.

Washington,. in the- District of Columbia, have invented new and useful Automatlc Train-Stop, of which. the followlng 1s a specification.

,p out accident.

This, invention is a device for automatically stopping railway trains, trolley. cars and the like.

7 It is well known that the block. system, as suchyhas- V eatly reduced. the dan erof. railway trave but the suecessof. suc 1' a, system depends entirely, upon the personal equation a. 6., the responsibility of each andevery employee of the railroadand the character of his. attentionr to his duties. equation-is such. however,- that engineers and motormen will occasionally take great chances and endanger the lives of passengers unnecessarily. Some oii the worst wrecks in the history of railroading have been: brought about by thedisregard of signals set against a train. or car, as the case may be, and theengineeror motorman taking achancethat he could get through. with- One of the objects. of the present invention is, to. make it impossible for the driver of an. engine or motor car to ignore or disregard danger signals, and to pass the latter when they have been so set asto; make it dangerous to proceed. A further object is to provide, means for automatically setting the air brakes and sand.- ing the traeks if an: attempt ismade to pass a danger signal. A iiurther object is to provide means for indicating whether or not an engineer or motorman has disregarded;

a. danger signal or attempted to, pass a block set against him.. A further ObJQCt is to provide means for indicating whether or not the block signal. has been. properly operated, so, that the responsibility for an accident may be definitely fixed. A further oblect is to provide means whereby the stopping device remains effective no matter how many trains orseparate cars may pass; the danger signal.

The invention will be hereinafter fully set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a side vlew of a portion of a locomotive to which my invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views ill trating he air a d The humansand valves respectively. Fig. 5 is a sideview of the semaphoreand trip device. Fig. 613 a plan view thereof.

Referring to the drawing, 10-designates a semaphore armof usual type, the same being supported by an upright} post 11, and: actuated-in, any suitable; or preferred man.- ner for adjustment to the various signal positions. When said. arm is set fordanger it projects in a horizontal position over the railway track. The free end. of the arm 10 is provided. with. a wing-or. trip section 12, hinged at 13, to the body of the semaphore arm, and free to swing horizontally in either direction. The swinging movement of said wing 12. is limited, however, by arms let rigidly secured. to the body of the semaphore arm 1-0,and extend laterally therefrom, being bowed at 1.5. toprovide inwardly projecting abutments. 16 which are engaged. by the wing 12, when the latter swings from its normal position. The ends of the abutments 16 andthe free end of the wing 12 are provided withv perforations through which is passed a soft wire 17 the ends of which areengaged by sea'ls18. The wing 12 is normally held in central position. by the wire 17 and. cannot be moved in either direction without breaking said wire.

Mounted on the engine cab is a valve casing 20 connected with the air brake system, by pipes 21, a. rotary valve 22 being carried by said casing and interposed between and. controlling the communication between said pipes. Said valve is provided at its ends with angular handles 23. Said. valve is also provided with acrank arm 24, connected by a link 25, with a, valve 26, working in a sand box 2.7. The valves 22 and 26 are normally closed when the handles 23 are in an upright position. The handles 23 are perforated for the passage of soft wires 28,, the ends of which are passed through perforated fingers29secured to. the valve casing 20,, suitable seals 30rbeing secured to the ends of said wires. By

this arrangement the handles 23, cannot be.

tion, if the semaphore arm 10 is moved to danger positionfi. a, horizontally, the wing 12 will lie in the path of movement of one of the arms or handles 23. Thus, if the engineer should ignore the signal and attemp' to pass the same, the impact of the handle 28 against the wing 12 would break both the wires 17 and 28, whereupon the wing 12 would swing against, and be stopped by one of the abutments 16, and'the resistance thus encountered would cause the handle 23 to be moved to horizontal position, thus opening the air valve and at the same time discharging sand to the track. In this manner the train would be stopped and the air brake could not be released until the valve 22 is again closed. Thepresence of the broken 'wire 28 indicates the engineers guilt and the presence of the broken wire 17 corroborates the same fact. The absence of the wire 17 would indicate negligence on the part of the signal operator. However, in any event, after the Wire 1 7 is once broken, the wing 12' always remains in such position that it will intercept and operate the valve handles of as many successive trains as may pass.

Having thus explained the nature of my invention and described an operative mannor ofconstructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the'ii'orms in which it may be made or all of the forms'of its use, what is claimed is '1..In an automatictrain stop, the combination with a movably mounted semaphore arm, a trip-section pivoted to one end of said semaphore arm and free to swing from side.

to side, and means connected to the sidesof the semaphore arm for limiting the sidewise swinging movement of the trip-section in either direction, of a vehicle provided'with a valve-operating member arranged .to engage 7 said trip-section.

2. In an automatic train stopping device, the combination with a semaphore arm having a main section and a trip section pivoted at its rear end to the forward end of the main section, and means secured to the sides of the main section for limiting the swing ing movement ofthe trip section, of a vehicle provided with a valve operating member arranged to engage sa1d swlnglng member. 3. In an automatlc tram stopping device,

the combination with al semaphore arm comprising amain section and a pivoted trip copies 0! this patent may be obtained for for normally locking said swinging member against movement, of a [vehicle provided with a valve operating arm arranged to engage said wing member.

5. In an automatic" train stopping device, the combination with a semaphore arm provided with a swinging wing member, stop arms for limiting the swinging movement of said wing member, a soft wire connecting said wing member and said stop arms to lock sa1d wlng member agalnst movement,

and means for sealing said wire, of a ve-' hicle provided with a valve operating arm arrangedto engage said wing member.

6. In a train stopping device, a semaphore" arm, a trip section pivoted to said arm, rupturable means for normally holding the trip section in alinement with said arm, and means for limiting pivotal movement of said trip section when the rupturable holding means has-been destroyed.

7. Inan automatic train stopping device,

. the combination with a semaphore arm comprising a main section and a pivoted trip section, and means connected with the main section for limiting pivotal movement of said section, of a vehicle provided with a valve operating member and rupturable means for normally maintaining said valve operating member in position to engage the trip section. I

8. In a train stopping device, a fixed mom-' her, an oscillatorymember supported thereby, a wire for normally holding the oscillatory member in a predetermined position with respect to the fixed member, said wire being rupturable by impact with a resisting body, and 1 train stopping means cooperating withsaid oscillatory member.

In testimony whereof'I have hereunto set" HENRY anooLAN;

my hand.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0. 

